@wheelsaustralia 101
Toyota’s
heartbreak
It takes a lot to silence
the crowd at Le Mans,
but Toyota managed it.
When the leading #5 car
ground to a halt in front
of the pits after 23 hours
and 57 minutes, you
could hear a pin drop in
the grandstands as fans
gaped in disbelief.
Surely it was deliberate,
maybe an attempt to
engineer a formation
finish with the team’s
second car, running
several laps behind? But
as the car sat still for
more than a minute it
became clear something
had gone horribly wrong,
driver Kuzuki Nakajima
telling his team over the
radio he had no power.
Neel Jani swept past
in the #2 Porsche 919 to
take the victory.
A distraught Nakajima
finally managed to get
his car moving, but took
more than six minutes to
get back to the chequered
flag. Too long. He was
disqualified.LEFT: THE WINNING
PORSCHE CREW GO
CRAZY AS THEIR
CAR PASSES THE
STRICKEN TOYOTA
(BELOW) AND TAKES
THE CHEQUERED
FLAG
BELOW LEFT: AUSSIE
MARK WEBBER
KICKING BACK